Karzai in Washington
By the time this article appears President Karzai will have arrived in Washington and possibly have had his first round of talks with President Obama and with a now recovered…
A culture of militancy
From the bustling, congested markets of Karachi, where violence is endemic in all its myriad forms, to Peshawar and Quetta, videos and audio messages of ‘martyrs’, and sermons and statements…
And pine for what is not
This is that time of the year when endings come together with beginnings. But some prophesied endings have failed to turn up. The Mayan apocalypse was not to be and…
ZAB resurrection enlivens opponents
Shivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, Priyanka Chopra — they all have competition. Famous for playing multiple characters in Indian cinematic trifles, they are now threatened by our very own Babar Awan…
The women from Kohistan
Four women clapping and two men dancing appeared in a grainy cellphone video from a remote village said to be in Kohistan. The ill-fated gathering was said to have occurred…
FHFA sues major banks, FIs
It was a jittery start of the month. On Friday, US Regulator, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), sued major banks and financial institutions over sub-prime bonds for misleading Fannie Mae…
Because of the foreign troops
Protests have broken out in Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan against the US-led foreign forces, following a spate of civilian casualties in military operations and a lawmaker wept during…
Sharif’s Punjab
DEMOCRACY is the best revenge. Though in coining the phrase, it probably never occurred to the PPP that the party could itself become a victim of democracy. Or that democracy…
Undemocratic mindset
Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s refusal to resign after the latest instance of a serious breach of security in the federal capital on the basis that “nobody resigned when Lal Masjid…
High cost of misgovernance
As a jirga magistrate and political agent of the frontier regions 50 years ago, I have felt, with the passage of time, increasingly persuaded that our tribes wouldn’t have turned…
